Hands-Free Devices Distract Drivers: AAA Study

A new study by the American Automobile Association's Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that both handheld and hands-free calls resulted in a "moderate risk" to drivers.

With these new findings, is it safe to keep using distracting devices in our cars?

Voice-Activated Texting Most Distracting

Although many studies have recognized the risk of handheld phone calls on driver safety, few have evaluated the cavalcade of new hands-free features being released in new automobiles.

Many new vehicles feature the ability to read and respond to emails and text messages, like in this BMW ad (spoiler: married man shows disdain for mother-in-law), but the AAA study found that using these devices were even more dangerous than talking on a handheld phone.

There are obviously varying levels of distraction for a driver, like dealing with a noisy passenger vs. a quiet one, but AAA claims that using speech-to-text devices is "three times as distracting" as listening to the radio, reports U.S. News.

However, many states have passed laws allowing hands-free calling and even hands-free texting, which lets drivers send email and listen to text messages using voice commands -- the same behavior that AAA claims is incredibly distracting to drivers.

Critics of these laws have pointed to research like the new AAA study as proof that distracted driving laws fail to reduce truly risky behavior, and have even failed to reduce overall crashes.